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Sabres go for two in a row in Edmonton

(WGR 550) - The Sabres were able to beat a hot Calgary team in overtime, but they’re right back to work tonight in Edmonton.

The Oilers have won three straight after losing seven out of eight games.

The Sabres beat the Oilers here in Buffalo 3-1 in a game that many Edmonton observers thought was their worst in years.

Buffalo has won two of four games and easily could've won at Madison Square Garden too. The Sabres also lost 7-1 at home to Dallas.

The Sabres have seen a drastic improvement on the power play and a drastic drop on the penalty kill.

The PP has goals in six out of 10 games. It’s even better than that because in one of the games, they didn’t have a power play opportunity and in another, they scored just as the player was exiting the penalty box. Despite the power play success lately, the Sabres are still only better than one team overall. Buffalo has a 14 percent success rate, Columbus is at 13.3.

The PK has allowed goals in 11 out of 13 games. Buffalo has fallen to 25th overall at 78 percent.

Buffalo got great goaltending from Chad Johnson in Calgary. The win was only his second with the last one coming Oct. 15 in Anaheim.

Nate Beaulieu went on injured reserve so he will miss at least seven days. Matt Tennyson was called up because Josh Gorges is battling the flu.

Jack Eichel’s overtime goal gives him points in six straight games. In that time he has four goals and six assists for 10 points.

Rasmus Ristolainen has 10 points in 10 games after picking up just nine points in his first 28 games.

The Sabres are still second last in the NHL with a points percentage of .351. Edmonton is 26th at .479.

Edmonton played its last game without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was injured. The former number one overall selection had been slumping before he got hurt scoring just two goals in 12 games.

Connor McDavid has only one goal in 10 games. He does have nine assists in those games.

Overall McDavid is 10th in league scoring with 53 points in 47 games. He has points in four straight games picking up a goal and five assists.

Jesse Puljujarvi was taken 4th overall in the 2016 Entry Draft. The 19-year-old has just 14 points in 30 games this season, but he had a three point night the last time out against Vancouver.

Cam Talbot has appeared in 15 straight games in net. In that time he’s 7-6-1. Overall, Talbot is 17-16-2 with a 3.08 goals against and .902 save percentage.

Leon Draisaitl is starting to come around after a tough start. He has points in four straight and has five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 20 games.

Join me and Brian Koziol for the pregame starting at 8:00 on WGR Sports Radio 550.